Rethinking prosperity: Ginhawa and hygge

Why do we chase more when enough feels better?

Here I am in Copenhagen, grateful to present at the Academy of Management 2025 at Bella Center, sitting through workshops on humanistic management, AI, and consciousness development. Between sessions exploring how business can be a force for good, for human dignity and flourishing, I wander from Copenhagen's cozy city center to our hotel in Glostrup, a quiet suburb that's technically still part of greater Copenhagen. And somewhere between the candlelit cafes and the workshop flipcharts, a thought keeps nagging: the Danish hygge feels remarkably like our Filipino ginhawa.

Perhaps it's no accident that Denmark ranks as the world's second happiest country. Experiencing hygge firsthand, whether in the bustling city center or the suburban Glostrup, reveals something compelling. It's not about having the most or being the best. Hygge manifests as contentment with simple pleasures or just the right amount. Long dinners trump fast food. Candlelight beats fluorescent glare. Presence matters more than productivity.

Our consciousness development session reinforced what I was already sensing: real awareness means recognizing when we have enough.

What strikes me most? This Danish wisdom mirrors what we Filipinos have always known through ginhawa. More than just comfort, ginhawa encompasses breath itself, life force, holistic wellbeing, and most importantly, shared comfort. Both concepts reject the modern gospel of maximization. Patience brings comfort, not greedy accumulation.

Neither too few nor too many. Just enough to share.

The humanistic management sessions echo this ancient wisdom dressed in modern business language. Success isn't maximization but optimization for all. Dignity emerges from sufficiency shared. Human flourishing happens in community, never in isolation. Even the AI workshop revealed this truth: technology should identify gaps in our communities, not just maximize shareholder profits.

Here's what unsettles me: we Filipinos already possess this wisdom, yet we've somehow convinced ourselves we need to import happiness from elsewhere. We chase Western metrics of success while forgetting that pakikipagkapwa (shared identity) and bayanihan (communal unity) aren't quaint traditions but sophisticated prosperity frameworks in themselves.

The recent natural disasters in our country reveal uncomfortable truths. Some hoard resources while neighbors suffer. But what if business redefined itself? What if the best gift when we have too much is helping others experience a bit of comfort? The Danish model proves this isn't naive idealism. High quality of life and innovation can coexist with shared prosperity.

The workshops keep returning to consciousness and connection. Maybe that's the key. AI and technology should strengthen human bonds, not optimize them away.

What would happen if we measured differently? If organizations tracked ginhawa metrics alongside financial ones? If government policy supported shared prosperity over raw GDP growth? If education emphasized cooperation as much as competition? If we conducted regular community ginhawa assessments?

These questions feel especially urgent after these Copenhagen days. The conference journey keeps revealing the same truth: whether we call it hygge or ginhawa, human flourishing emerges from sufficiency shared. Not charity. Not socialism. But the radical recognition that my comfort is incomplete if my neighbor lacks basic needs.

We don't need Denmark to teach us this. We need to remember our own teachings.

So here's my wondering, my invitation: What if we engaged again in genuine pakikipagkapwa? What if organizations practiced bayanihan, especially during calamities? What if we stopped measuring success by individual accumulation and started measuring by how many achieve kaginhawaan together?

We have the wisdom. The question is whether we have the will.

From this hotel room in Glostrup, looking out at Danish suburbs that practice what we preach, I keep thinking about home. About a Philippines where kaginhawaan isn't an aspiration but a shared reality. Where prosperity means not having the most, but ensuring everyone has enough.